A new chapter of Competition between government and unions for salary updates occurs in the wine sector.
Unions and entrepreneurs in Mendoza and San Juan, the main wine-producing provinces, confirmed that they had been jointly informed Agreements that exceeded pay by 14% for March and 9% for April would not be approved.
The vineyard worker, the lowest category, earned $187,000 a month in February. And the unions wanted a salary in excess of $400,000.
To reach the amounts proposed by the unions they had to close the agreements for March and April, that double February income.
But the Libertarian government has made clear that it does not intend to approve closed joint agreements in the private sector above certain limits.
“(Luis) Caputo’s order is not to validate increases higher than 14% in March and 9% in April”, explained the Labor spokespersons interviewed by Clarion.
In the case of wine, trade unions and business chambers who met with the supporter were warned that: “they will not approve increases above 12%”.
The salary of a Warehouse operator, In the two-month period March-April it will have a 80% increase compared to February salary. And with the addition of other items, such as non-remunerative contributions and compensation, it will amount to approximately 518 thousand dollars.
He vineyard worker He has closed a quarterly adjustment and only in his pocket in May will he reach the salary of 480,000 dollars, requested by the Vineyard Workers Union (Soeva) for March.
This was stated by Fabián Ruggeri, president of the Association of Wine Cooperatives (Acovi). Clarion that “while we were discussing equality, government representatives told us that they would not approve a monthly increase higher than 12%. However, “The companies decided to sign the increase that we had agreed with the unions.”
Wine agreement signed but it has not yet been approved. Industry leaders understand this The Government will not approve it, but it will still be applied.
“The Chambers have agreed to do a more realistic approach to income loss that workers had had due to inflation,” explained Ruggeri. And I state: “The agreement is in force.”
Union complaints
There are several businesses that have agreed to equal increases starting from March with increases above the Caputo limit and They did not get government approval.
The list includes activities such as loading and unloadingwhich agreed for March a 17% improvement plus a trigger clause for inflation, workers graphics who signed a 20% increase for this month and the building managers who have agreed on a 45% increase since February.
The conflict also persists with truck drivers, the Moyano union, which had agreed with the Chambers on a 25% increase for March and another 20% for April.
“The Government does not want to approve more than what it says, which in our case offered us 12% and 9%,” said Juan Carlos Aguirre, general secretary of Soeva Mendoza.
Aguirre hopes that the industrial and wine sectors will respect the agreement: “There is a commitment signed with the business chambers that this increase is valid”. And he claims that, sooner or later, the Ministry of Labor will have to approve it.
In a newspaper interview The Andesthe wine sector trade unionist criticized the Milei government: “This has never happened before “Unless they tell you how much you will earn”Aguirre said.
Agreeing, Mauro Sosa, executive director of the Centro de Viñateros y Bodegueros del Este, the body that signed the dissenting joint agreement, along with the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce and the San Juan Viticultural Chamber, said: ” Salaries needed to be updated, but there is no way to justify 12%, it is ridiculous and not at all reasonable.”
Source: Clarin
